Foam composition for extinguishing fires



reamed Sept. 9, i924.

Lewis B. VAN nnuvnn Anp'nmr NEW YORK.

'FFICE;

C. VAN-LEUVEN, OF WOODBURY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO VACUUM OIL COMPANY,OF NEW-YORK,

N. Y., A CORPORATION OF FOAM COMPOSITION FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES.

.80 Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that we, Lnwrs B. VAN LEU- vnN and HARRY C. VAN Lnuvnn,citizens the United States, and residen s Woodbu in the county ofGloucester and State of ewJersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Foam Compositions for Extinguishing Fires, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to compositions or compounds of the kind that areused for extinguishing a fire or rotecting a substance from fire, andespecial y to that class of compositions wherein a mixture of theingredients produces a viscous foam, adapted palticularly to smother andextinguish flames produced by ignited petroleum or other kinds ofinflammable liquids, by. excluding the air therefrom in such a way as toout 0E the supply of oxygen from the flames, by a blanket of foamcontaining a non-inflam mable gas in finely divided bubbles. Thisblanket must be sufliciently heavy to withstand the rising draughtcaused by the heat of combustion.

The fire extinguishing compounds of the type to which we refer are oftwo main constituents, the one a saline solution containing somechemical from which carbon dioxide gas can be liberated by the action ofthe second solution, which is of a mildly acid character, such as asolution of aluminum sulfate. The action of liberating the as loses itssmothering effect unless this gas is trapped and held to form ablanket-like foam in the solution mixture, which must be also ofsufiicient consistency to withstand heat. We make. use of severalwell-known agents to produce this effect; aluminum s'iih 40 fate.saponin (quillaya bark extract), "ire bracho extract and sodiumbicarbonate. We considerably improve and increase the efiicieucy of thefoam by the admixture of a strong alkali, such as caustic soda, to thesolution containing the quebracho extract, saponin and sodiumbicarbonate which prevents the coagulation and settlement of the variousinsoluble heavy reds in the quebracho extract, which are rapidlyflocculated in the presence of sodium bicarbonate. These reds, ifallowed to settle out, soon form a pasty sludge in the bottom of themixing application 0 Application flied November 9, 922, Serial no.599,913.

tank and not being blended with the other ingredients in the mixturewould do away with the greatly desired toughness and tenacity of thefoam.

The object of our invention is to produce a tenacious, foaming mixturefrom certain chemical solutions, which neither deteriorate nor change incomposition upon, standing ready for use, and at'the same time, areinexpensive, easy to mix, and require no particular skill in blendin Forthe purpose of ifiustrating a practical our invention solutions havmgformula as follows may be used: Solution A to consist of 90 parts ofwater and 10 parts of aluminum sulphate; solution B to consist of 5parts ofquillaya bark extract, 5 parts of quebracho extract, -9 parts ofsodium bicarbonate, and 81 parts of water. This solution B is madealkaline by the admixture of one-tenth to two-tenths of a pound ofcaustic soda per gallon of solution. This admixture will vary with thealkalinity of the constituents. The quebracho extract is any commercialgrade of so-called reds from tanning liquors. Quill-aye, bark extract isthe syrup formed by digesting 2,- pound of quillaya bark for eight hourswith one gallon of boiling water.

We do not confine ourselves however to the above proportions. v What weclaim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A composition for use in connection with a solution of a mildly acidcharacter,

for extinguishing fire, consisting of sodium.

Lewis B. VAN LEUVEN. HARRY G. VAN Lnuvnn,

